29 Foods That Will Bring You Back to Sleep-Away Camp

Because there were no better days than those started with off-brand cereal.

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For everyone who lived ten months for two and counted down the days until summer starting in September, the food was never the most enticing aspect of the summer that everyone longed for. Camp food was always notoriously terrible but with slim to no standards from the beginning, the food seemed to grow on us all.

1. Chicken patties

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Enough said.

2. Sloppy Joes

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Always sloppy, but always a crowd-pleaser.

3. Square slices of pizza

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Nothing is better than slightly soggy slices of pizza.

4. Taco night

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…which was always accompanied by sombreros, fiesta music and dancing on the chairs in the dining hall.

5. French toast sticks for breakfast

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You knew it would be a good day if it started with a few… dozen french toast sticks.

6. Choco tacos and Chipwiches from Canteen

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And of course the argument about how to eat the chipwich correctly. Which of course was never resolved (although I still hold strong to licking all chocolate chips off first and eating the cookies last).

8. Bagels on Saturday morning

9. Pizza Bagels for lunch

And the fact that it was supposed to be a secret that the bagels from breakfast were used for lunch later in the day.

10. Cup of Noodles

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Everyone was always in hopes that the water in the bathroom sink would get hot enough.

11. Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

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Never alone, always together. And always a fight for the batches made with white bread.

12. S’mores with Kosher marshmallows

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Campfires called for sing-a-longs and melty marshmallows on sticks picked up directly from under your feet.

13. La Choy noodles

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The only reason you would go up to the salad bar was to scoop up some mandarin oranges and noodles. Otherwise, salad was not a thing.

14. Smiley face french fries

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Reflective of the emotions brought upon each campers’ face, smiley face french fries were always the best part of any meal they were served with.

15. Belly Ache Night after Visiting Day

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As if we hadn’t eaten since our parents dropped us off, belly ache night deserved the name for a reason. The nurse’s worst nightmare come true, the night after visiting day composed of absurd and endless consumption of goodies.

16. Dunkaroos and Poptarts

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Whether they were hidden in the stuffing of a Build-a-Bear along with your flip phone or under your pillow after visiting day, these classics only tasted so good because of how rebellious you felt hiding them.

17. Dino nuggets

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For some reason the nuggets tasted better in the shape of prehistoric creatures.

26. Prune juice

27. Tri-colored pasta

As an option during every meal, pasta was complemented by pretty much anything including ketchup, margarine, or when things got creative, peanut butter.

28. Fruit… sometimes

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Fruit wasn’t really a thing at camp. Usually plums or peaches were available upon request during meals, and if your bunk was lucky to go berry picking at a nearby farm, you could snag some on the way.

29. PB&J

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By the time you hit summer #6, you were getting a little sick of all the food and succumbed to a good ol’ PB&J for pretty much every meal. Or you might have just skipped straight to the peanut butter on a spoon.

But now that these foods are in your past, there are days that you wish you could go back to melty ice cream and carbs on carbs for two straight months.